Remember My Chipped Cup
by Ethereal Wishes
Summary: Zelena had brought him his gruel in that same chipped cup countless times before but today the madness was toying with him as he turned the cup over and over again in his hands, causing him to remember someone long forgotten. [Oneshot Rumbelle]


**Remember My Chipped Cup**

**A/AN: I warn you this is very angst filled! Please don't hate me but this has been on my mind since "The Witch Hunt" episode. I'm certain the cup Zelena gave Rumple the gruel in wasn't his "chipped cup" but what if it reminded him of it? This is based on that concept. This is meant to be a oneshot, but I may expand on it if enough readers want me to.**

The lights flickered within the dank cellar he was being kept, in a pen made of chicken wire to beat it all. The poorly constructed cage was just another way for her to torment him, letting him know that she was the one with the upper hand in their little game. Rumplestiltskin was powerless without his dagger, and she knew it.

His ears perked up when he heard the door from upstairs swing open, the sound of her heels clicking against the wooden steps like nails on a chalkboard. The ginger haired witch sauntered over to him holding a tray of food.

Rumplestiltskin watched her tilt her head to the side, "Hungry?" she echoed mockingly.

He grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the cage, staring at her with his manic gaze, "You should've never brought me back." he hissed.

She smirked pulling her hand away from him, kicking the food tray under the entry door she'd made to force feed him a bland diet of gruel that cruelly reminded him of his days as a poor spinner with hardly anything to eat.

"Eat up, we've got work to do." she smiled maliciously before walking back up the stairs, leaving him alone with the lingering madness.

Rumplestiltskin sat down and picked up the cup of gruel, studying the white porcelain edges intricately, running his finger around the blue rim. He held the cup gingerly in his hands as his mind recounted a time from his hazy past. He could remember key things about his past like: being a poor spinner, turning into the dark one, and losing his son but there was a blurry face his mind often like to conjure up of a familiar beauty with azure eyes and chestnut tresses, but he couldn't recall her name.

He found himself dreaming about this beauty often, with her warm gazes and cheeky smiles but what did this beautiful woman have to do with him? He related her to expansive libraries and evening teatimes but that was all he could remember until he studied the cup in his hands. The cup was white, a blue rim around the edges with a small chip on the left side. The small chip enthralled him causing his mind to supplicate more images of the woman he couldn't quite place a name with.

~X~

"_You will serve me my meals, and you will clean the dark castle." Rumplestiltskin reverberated to the woman in front of him._

"_I understand." the beauty stammered as she poured his tea._

"_You will dust my collection and launder my clothing!" he continued._

"_Yes…" she replied back obediently._

"_You will fetch me fresh straw when I'm spinning at the wheel!" he chimed in, thinking of more chores for her to do._

"_Got it." the beauty nodded readying the tea service._

"_Oh, and you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts!" he taunted unable to resist throwing her off guard. It had worked because she dropped the tea cup she was currently holding. The brown liquid spilled onto the carpets and the imp inside him couldn't help but cackle at her clumsiness. _

"_That one was a quip! Not serious!" he sang with an impish smirk on his lips._

"_Right!" the beauty chimed in, the tension in her shoulders relieving. She bent over to pick up the cup but froze when she noticed a small chip grazed the porcelain. She felt fear course through her at how he might react.  
_

"_Oh …my! I'm so sorry but, uh…it's…it's chipped." she stammered holding up the cup for him to examine, "You can hardly see it." she prompted until he shrugged, his fingers in a steeple formation._

"_Oh it's just a cup." he shrugged unperturbed by the matter. He was certain he had a dozen more just like it._

_The beauty poured him another cup of tea setting it hastily in front of him, before giving him a reverent bow. He watched her intently as she gathered back up the tea service leaving him alone with his thoughts. She'd left the chipped cup setting on the table. He picked it up, studying it intricately thinking about his beautiful new servant the whole time._

_~X~_

Rumplestiltskin held his breath feeling the madness gnawing at his mind again, the beautiful girl completely forgotten. He was growing frustrated with the mixed messages his subconscious was throwing at him about this woman. He was certain it was probably just another way to thwart him.

"You feed the madness and it feeds on you!" he sang twirling the familiar cup around in his fingers again.

"You feed the madness and it feeds on you!" he giggled before dipping his finger into the bland tasting gruel, the woman from his imagination completely forgotten as he succumbed to clutches of his delusions once more.

**A/AN: I may continue this story as the series continues to unfold. Please review and tell me what you think! If you have any suggestions or complaints then please voice them! :D**


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